Today, I am sharing Representative Cody Wylie's (HD39) heartfelt, powerful sentiments published last week.

His concerns echo those I am hearing all over Wyoming from citizens at my Essentials Budget community listening forums, from constituent calls and emails, and at the State Capitol.

It is time for all of us to come together, as is our tradition, and ensure the resources available through sound savings, investment, federal dollars, and revenues from our energy industry will be used to continue the work of growing our economy -- an economy that supports families, students, seniors, and our communities.

Wyoming is not Washington, D.C. Our budget is balanced, we have a surplus, and our practice of saving for future generations, something in our DNA, was in this budget before it was removed. These are true conservative values, and it is what has set us apart from other states and the federal practices of overspending. We must not be the generation that forgets to save for the future. 

Please read and commit to forwarding this issue of On Brand to close friends, work colleagues, and family members. Thank you. 

Ride for the Brand, Governor Mark Gordon

I’ve been in Cheyenne for weeks now late nights, long days voting to defend our kids, our elderly, our quality of life, our roads, young mothers, our legacy industries, our water funding, and our position in coal and RMP litigation. That’s the job. That’s the responsibility. And that’s what the people of Wyoming sent us here to do.

I was born and raised in this great state. Wyoming shaped me under these wide-open skies. It taught me my first lessons. It let me make my first mistakes. It showed me what hard work looks like and what it means to stand by your neighbors. Here, a handshake still matters. Here, community still means something. Here, we care for one another. That’s what it means to be a Wyomingite.

That’s why I find myself increasingly concerned by a growing tone in our Legislature suggesting Wyoming is broke and we need to be “saved.”

We don’t.

In recent years, members of the Freedom Caucus have embraced what feels like a governing philosophy built on a single word: No.

No to funding.
No to investment.
No to maintaining commitments.
No to defending our industries strategically.
No to supporting the services that keep our communities strong.

“No” cannot be the only governing philosophy.

We are told that endless cuts define conservatism. I disagree.

Conservatism, as I understand it, means stewardship. It means protecting what works. It means investing wisely in the infrastructure and industries that sustain us. It means defending Wyoming’s interests in court when federal overreach threatens our coal, our water, or our land-use authority.

But if you choose Wyoming, then love Wyoming.

Respect our way of doing things. Understand that local communities often know best. Recognize that our culture was built over generations by ranchers, miners, teachers, small business owners, and families who weathered booms and busts alike. We are not interested in importing dysfunction. Nor are we interested in being told that everything we’ve built is insufficient.

Wyoming is not broken.

We are the Last Best Place.

That doesn’t mean avoiding tough conversations. It doesn’t mean reckless spending. It doesn’t mean rejecting reform. It means governing with steadiness instead of slogans. It means measuring twice before cutting once. It means investing where it matters: in our children, our elderly, our infrastructure, and the industries that create opportunity for the next generation.

The decisions we make today will echo long after we leave these seats. They will shape not only our children’s future but their children’s as well.

Wyoming does not need saving, Freedom Caucus or otherwise.

"We keep saying 'feeding programs'. These are kids. They're not cattle. We're just putting food in little bellies." 

Update: Friday night members of the State House voted against the Governor's recommendation to continue a program that reduces childhood hunger during the summer months. A slim majority chose to reject this federally funded program. Rep. Wylie voted in favor of keeping the SUN Bucks program in place. Background: Food for Kids Info Here.